Monday, November 27, 2006

Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale

I finally got to visit the new Chandler BevMo and found it to be a pretty decent place to pick up beers. They were definitely highlighting their seasonals and I obliged them by picking up the Rouge and Anchor's winter ales. I drank one of each this weekend and I will start with the Rogue.

The night of Thanksgiving Eve, we ordered pizza and I decided to try out this Holiday seasonal to get me in the spirit. Nice dark color with a solid head. The head didn't go away the entire time I was drinking it, in fact one of my last swigs had a bit of the head still in it. The taste was big, perfect for winter. Lots of roasted malts with a great hop finish. Went great with the pizza, and I could have drank 2 or three.

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Friday, November 10, 2006

Eragon

I hate Harry Potter.

I have read Fantasy books since I was 11 and feel that if I am not an expert, than I am a connoisseur. I have always thought that Fantasy books are an easy hit with young people, but these Harry Potter books are pabulum. There are hundreds of books that should appeal to kids and are better written. The latest example of this I ran into was The Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini. This was written by a teen and despite his youth, his abilities crush that of J.K. Rowling. They both found hits with their first attempts but despite having over 10 years on him, Paolini’s novel deals with more sophisticated issues and comes across much less childish. A great example of this is with the spells. Rowling uses the lamest of puns, while Paolini uses his own derivative of Latin. Eragon has greater action, moves quicker and, in general, has more sophisticated language, although nothing that grade school kids shouldn’t be able to follow.

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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

BJ's Restaurant & Brewery Chandler, AZ

Reviewed after multiple visits.

I like the BJ's chain. Their food is above par and consistent between the many locations I have visited. Their menu is, if anything, too big and I often have a hard time choosing pizza over sandwiches let alone what type. The wait staff has been generally been knowledgeable about beer styles and have even surprised me with their knowledge before. Their regular rotation of beers is good, but I have a problem with their not having enough variety in their seasonals. I don't remember them having a single IPA all summer, but the same stout for months. I wish they had a bigger selection of non-house stuff on tap, but I guess they are pushing their product and I can understand that. Good food great atmosphere and hand crafted beers make it hard not to enjoy the experience.

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Saturday, November 04, 2006

Painting Part 1


We decided to paint the girls' rooms starting with the baby's since she isn't actually occupying it yet. This was my first experience painting with color and it was a lot of work. I am pretty happy with the results. Up to know this hasn't looked like a real room that someone was going to be living in. Now, even without all the furniture, this looks like a room I can picture a baby sleeping in.

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Friday, November 03, 2006

Saginaw Spirit

I saw this article on ESPN.com and I have to say, I love this logo. I immediately ran to the team's site and found it down, but there was a link to their store. I would love to have a jersey. There is just something about following a small, obscure team like this. Obviously, with Steven Colbert's support, this team isn't all that obscure anymore. Someone read this and find a minor league hockey team with the coolest logo and hook me up.

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Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Halloween (or Colorween)

Last night marked my daughter Mary's 3rd Halloween (or as she was calling it Colorween). A great time was had by all. We set up a table at the end of the driveway to help lure kids into the cul-de-sac. I look forward to the time when Mary really wants to prowl the neighborhood begging for candy and I can sit at home, with a nice set up relax with a nice selection of beers. In years past, when we could toss Mary into a stroller, we roamed the larger part of our neighborhood and found that many of the houses were throwing parties in their garage or driveway for the parents while the kids did their thing. I am not trying to wish my or my daughter’s life away, and I enjoyed this Halloween, it just feels like I am ready for the next stage. Anyway, Matt and Teresa came over towards the end of the night and chatted with us for a bit and that felt like a holiday. For pictures :

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